101 PJATO Oneshots
by ILove2Write13
Summary: This is where I will post my oneshots, instead of having all of them randomly around. PLEASE REVIEW!
1. ABC

**Hey guys! Here is the oneshot I promised you when I made it to the two hundred review mark in "Green Eyes." **

**Also, this is where I'm going to be posting my oneshots. Updating will be sporadic, so please don't be upset with me. It comes with inspiration, promise, or some other things...**

**Hope you like it!**

* * *

****_"Being in love isn't staring at each other in great passion, but staring together in the same direction."_

_-Unknown_

* * *

**A - Apple**

Annabeth was sitting on the dock, munching on a green apple, her brow furrowed in concentration.

An opportunity too good to pass up, Percy started sneaking up behind her, hoping to push her into the water.

"Don't even think about it."

**B - Blue**

When they move in together, one thing he demanded was that almost everything was some shade of blue.

He made an exception for her study.

Funny thing was, the bright yellow of the walls fit perfectly.

**C - Cat**

"No. No, no, no, no, and no."

Then she pulled the sad face, and he relented.

The little kitten they had found on the side of the road became their cat.

**D - Donut**

When she was having a bad day, he came home with an iced coffee the way she liked it (two milks, two sugars), and her favorite Boston Creme donut.

**E - Effort**

He makes an effort to clean up after himself, because he loves her, and she hates messes.

She makes an effort to not read a lot, because she loves him and he loves cuddling with her in front of the TV.

**F - Fight**

Their life is always going to be full of fights. Fights with monsters, destiny, and everything else.

After their first fight, when he stormed out of the apartment and left her crying, he was back within ten minutes to dry her tears and let her know that even though they fought, he would love her all the time.

**G - Gray**

Blue had always been his favorite color, but more and more he was liking gray.

More specifically, the gray of a stormy sky, with a hint of the sun behind them.

The same shade as her eyes.

** H - Happy Hour **

When they both are 21, they go out to a bar to celebrate the fact they were alive, with all the monster attacks.

It ends up with him streaking down the street with her bra on his head.

They try to forget it ever happened.

**I - Impulse**

Percy is impulsive.

So, on their six year anniversary, he buys two tickets to Greece, and reserves hotel rooms. He even goes as far as hiring a private tour guide.

When she sees that she is going to see the Parthenon, she cries tears of joy before throwing herself in his arms and kissing him senseless.

**J - James**

Annabeth met little James when she was volunteering at an orphanage.

James was a small child, with fair blond hair and big green eyes. He latched onto Annabeth, even though he didn't talk.

The matrons said it was a miracle that he was now acting like a little boy.

It was the first time Annabeth ever thought about having her own children someday.

**K - Kin**

Percy had talked her into making right with her father.

"You're never going to move on if you keep holding a grudge from the past. Trust me, you need closure."

Which was why she was standing on his doorstep, tears in her eyes.

"Daddy?"

"Annabeth."

Together they cried, laughed, and apologized. They would never be really close, but at least they talked.

It was more than she had hoped for.

**L - Love**

To them, love is being with someone, being comfortable, but there is passion and fire and love and spontaneity that keeps things interesting.

Anyone who doesn't know them thinks they won't last.

Those that do know them know that they are so deeply in love, that there is no "Annabeth" without "Percy," and no "Percy" without "Annabeth."

**M - Marry**

When they get married, it's on a beach at camp with all their friends and some gods and goddesses.

Percy looks handsome in his tux, and Annabeth looks drop dead beautiful in her long white dress.

The whole day was only cementing what they knew when they first kissed.

They were meant to be together.

**N - New**

When they walk James into their apartment, his eyes widen at everything that seems so new.

It took all of three days for James to start talking, and then, his first word was 'New.'

He couldn't believe he got new clothes.

Over his head, Annabeth and Percy share a smile; a smile that told how happy they were to have a little family of their own.

**O - Open**

"James, please, open the door-"

"No! You're just going to take me back, and I don't wanna go back!"

Sighing, Annabeth looked to Percy.

James thought they didn't love him anymore, because they told him that Thalia was going to be watching him while they went out for a night.

No words were needed. They sat down outside the door, and just waited for it to open again.

**P - Please**

The door eventually opened, and James looked shocked that they were still there.

"Oh, James-"

His small eyes filled up with tears and he launched himself into her arms.

"Please, please, don't take me back. Please don't stop loving me."

Her heart breaking, Annabeth let Percy hold the two of them.

"I promise James. I promise. You're our son, and we love you so much."

**Q - Questions**

It's hard to field the questions James' asks them now.

Why they have celestial bronze things, why there are monsters attacking.

At first, he couldn't see through the Mist, but now he could.

They have no choice but to tell him about them being demigods.

**R - Relief**

There is relief when he accepts everything in stride, promising not to tell anyone.

"You won't let the monsters get me?"

Percy let out a small laugh and picked James up, planting a kiss on his cheek.

"We promise."

The relief in his eyes made their hearts melt.

**S - Sure**

"Are you…are you sure?"

Annabeth looked down at the pregnancy test in her hand and showed him the little pink plus sign.

"I'm sure."

**T - Trixie**

Annabeth and Percy were standing in the door to Trixie's nursery, smiling a little at their now five year old son.

Trixie, who was only two weeks old, was asleep, her little hand curled around two of James' fingers. James was sitting cross legged on a chair next to the crib.

"I promise to look after you Trix. You're my sister, and I'll protect you."

All the fear James had had when he heard Trixie was coming, when he thought he wouldn't be loved as much, disappeared when he looked into the face of his little sister.

Now he was going to protect her, no matter what.

**U - Up**

Trixie was trying to stand up, her small hands grasping at the couch.

Frustration made her little lower lip quiver, but it stopped when she saw James walk into the room.

"Jah, Jah, up!"

James smiled and walked over to his sister, holding out his hands.

Determination back in her system, Trixie grabbed onto his hands and pulled.

Soon, she was standing up on her two feet, smiling up at her brother.

He would always be there to hold her up.

**V - Valentine**

"Trixie? Will you be my valentine?"

Trixie smiled at the sophomore standing in front of her.

"Yeah…yeah I will Luke."

Her face a smile, 16 year old Trixie looked into the eyes of the boy she had liked for years.

**W - Wedding**

Her brother was getting married today.

Trixie was a bridesmaid, and she helped Crissa, her soon to be sister-in-law, get ready.

When she was done, she walked to her mother and father and brother waiting at the alter.

James reached out and wrapped her in a hug.

"You'll always be number one with me."

Smiling, she leaned into his hug, happy that her brother was happy.

**X - X ray**

Even when she was sixty years old, Annabeth hated getting an x-ray.

She also hated it when doctors had bad news.

"You have cancer."

**Y - Years**

Annabeth was 62 years old when she left the world.

Not from a murder, a car accident, or a monster attack.

But cervical cancer had gotten her.

Percy, James, and Trixie, as well as assorted grandchildren, mourned at her grave.

**Z - Zzz**

One year exactly after Annabeth died, Percy died in his sleep.

Trixie and James missed them with everything they had, but they knew that they were happier where they were.

They had been separated one year too long.

As said years ago, there is no "Annabeth" without "Percy," and no "Percy" without "Annabeth."


	2. Ages of Love

**Summary**: Every god deserves happiness. But the Fates never make it easy.

* * *

Their first life together was when Rome was a sparkling pillar of society.

Her life wasn't so sparkling.

She was the slave of a horrible master, abused and sexually assaulted almost every night.

He posed as a high official, looking things over.

She saw him immediately for what he really was.

Her piercing blue eyes locked him in place, and he froze. Those were the eyes that he had seen in a vision. The eyes of a girl he knew he would fall in love with.

He came back to the land almost everyday, to spend time with her.

He had been horrified when he saw the bruises on her pale skin, the fear in her brilliant eyes.

He wished he could buy her, take her away, give her the freedom she deserved. To dress her in soft silks and warm wool, to make her protected.

But he was bound by a code of honor to his father to not interfere too much with the mortals.

He had no choice but to hold her as she cried, steal kisses when no one was looking.

All too soon, she was sold away, and he was forced to abandon her.

He heard her tears and sorrow and loss in his heart for a long time after that.

* * *

The next time he met her, she was in Victorian England.

Her spirit was too much for that time. She refused to conform to the picture of a perfect woman of the time.

Now Greek, he watched her with amusement, loving how her eyes would burn like sapphires when she fought with her mother.

The only time he saw her be soft was when she was playing with the children of her maid.

He posed as a proper young man, interested in her hand. Her father, a mortal, wanted them to get more acquainted. To him, no one would be good enough for his little girl.

They went on long walks (chaperoned, of course) and went to the theater. She laughed when he told jokes, never trying to be demure.

She loved horses. She would ride them everyday if she could.

When he reveled what he was to her, she took it in stride, smiling at him like he was still her hero.

He let her ride a pegasus, and she was a natural.

Her compassion and fiery attitude was the same as the girl he met in Rome all those years ago.

The pain of losing her to a house fire burned him in ways he never thought it would again.

* * *

The third time he met her, she was in New York City after the Irish Potato Famine.

In Ireland, her entire family was killed by the famine. She was all alone, a poor eighteen year old girl on her own.

She had journeyed to America in hope that she would have a better life.

He was a wealthy boat captain, or so he was posing to be.

Her hope and compassion was a bright light on the horrible journey to America on the 'coffin ships.'

The months that they were on the ocean he fell in love with her, her bright blue eyes always shinning, the same color as the sky and the ocean he loved so much.

Letting her go on with her life was the hardest thing he ever did.

Watching the crowds swallow up her small form while she made her way in the big bad world.

"I need to do this by myself. I can't let someone help me, not even a god. For my life to mean something, I have to do it on my own."

Her words still rang within him, even when tears ran down her face as she collected her meager belongings and went on to find her life in New York City.

He kept tabs on her, watching her grow up and marry a man who had some money. She would always be taken care of.

He watched her have two babies, one boy and one girl, and live to be an old age, the horror of her childhood all but forgotten.

But he knew she never forgot him.

The small braid of sea rope she kept told him that.

It was the braid of sea rope that had been his bracelet for years.

He had slipped it into her hand when she left.

It was in her pocket when she was buried 60 years later.

* * *

The fourth time he saw her was during the Rwandan Genocide.

She had been staying in the Hotel des Mille Collines.

When the rebels opened fire on the hotel with all the Europeans and Americans in it, she was the first to help all the wounded.

She fought tooth and nail to keep the orphans safe and taken care of.

Her blue eyes were still fiery.

He was a UN Peacekeeper, and he protected her.

He protected everyone.

Then came the time when he was sneaking her and several other children and adults through the street that he had to make a choice.

He wasn't supposed to shoot. He knew he was running a thin line, pretending to be a mortal all the time. He couldn't break this mortal rule.

So when she was kidnapped, her eyes begging him to keep running, he didn't shoot her captive.

That thought haunted him even when he saved the others.

Because beneath those blue eyes were eyes that begged him to never leave her.

And he did.

He left her to die.

* * *

The fifth and last time that he met her, she was the demigod daughter of his father.

Thank god DNA didn't matter to them, because they would be one big incestuous gene pool.

He watched from the day she was born, the unknown child of the Big Three, who wasn't supposed to be alive.

He watched her compassion that always stuck with her, the calm way she took care of her little brother, the devastation when she thought that he was gone forever.

He watched and tried to help her get to safety, watched with some jealousy as she found a small new family.

His heart clenched when he saw her sacrifice herself to be a tree to keep her friends and all other demigods safe.

When her tree was poisoned, he went down and put a hand on it, trying to heal it.

It was out of his hands, out of his powers.

When she was safe, out of the tree, no longer the young girl, but not in her twenties, he longed for the day when he could meet her.

He had to keep himself from laughing when he saw her in a car, but then he sobered when he found out that she was terrified because her mother died in one.

He watched the tears stream down her face when she fought Luke, her iron will keeping her going.

His heart seemed to crush when he saw her become a Hunter.

But he knew he had to let her go.

* * *

Three hundred years had past since she had become a Hunter.

Her friends and their children and even their children's children have passed.

The only constant in her life have been the gods and the goddesses.

Apollo had always had a vague inkling when it came to her.

Her eyes had always stayed the same throughout the years. The same sky blue that lightened or darkened, with little flecks of almost gold and green in them, which made them all the more interesting.

The Fates finally told him she was who he was supposed to end up with.

He didn't know which reincarnation of her though.

He found her one day in the park.

It was smaller now, almost everything synthetic or fake.

This one was real.

She was laying on her back, eyes closed, the sun warming her skin.

She felt him come up behind her.

Thalia had never thought she would end up here.

From Jason to Annabeth to Luke to Percy to all her friends, she had lost them all. She had tried to keep them alive in her heart, but now she was forgetting how the sun looked on Annabeth's hair, Percy's face when he realized he had said something stupid.

But she was also remembering lifetimes that weren't hers.

In Rome, England, Ireland and then New York, even Rwanda…she was a different person every time.

And every time, she had fallen in love with Apollo.

"I remember everything."

Apollo froze, his breath caught in his chest.

Her eyes opened, spearing into his soul, the eyes that had remained the same throughout the years, the eyes the Fates had sent to him in a vision so many eons ago.

She looked into his face, the one she had looked to as her savior, lover, best friend, the one who kept her faith and hope going even when times seemed bleak.

He noticed she didn't have the Hunters glow anymore.

At his questioning look, she replied, "I couldn't do it anymore. Not with losing the memories of my friends, or gaining the ones of you…I can't do it anymore."

She cocked her head, her long tresses (grown out from her Goth phase) falling past her shoulders.

"Why are you here?"

"Because you are."

And no more words needed to be said.

Him, the player god, who loved to dabble in mortal affairs and have sex and drink and party, had fallen hard for this girl.

Her, the girl who never believed in love, who went through hell many times over only to be stronger in the end, who only expected people to disappoint her, had fallen for this man.

Centuries of trying to find each other, of trying to have the right time, of hope and loss and love and fear and guilt, and they were here.

In that small clearing, Apollo kissed Thalia Grace, the kiss that spanned time and space, the kiss that sealed the deal.

He was hers, and she was his.

There was no other way to say it.

* * *

_Two years later_

Thalia lead her small daughter and son, twins, up the steps of the temples, smiling at them all the while.

Anna Zoe and Percy Luke smiled their small smiles at their Momma.

As godlings, they aged slower than others. At two years old, they were still like a ten month old.

Apollo and Thalia weren't complaining. Already they seemed to be aging too fast.

Now his immortal wife (whom he had been completely faithful to, and always will), Thalia had born two children to him.

Two were enough for them.

Named after the people who had changed her life, they would always live on.

Seeing their Daddy, the two twins took off to hug him.

Apollo smiled over their small head to his wife, who was dressed in a short blue dress (with shorts on underneath it; some things never change)

Their love was hard to explain.

It was as sweet as a honeycomb, as deep as the deepest crevice in the world, and even deeper than that, as pure as untouched snow, and as strong as the strongest metal times infinity.

They had gone through hell and back to find each other now.

And they would never be separated again.

Not by death, not by people, not by anything.

Least of all time.

Because now they had all the time in the world.

* * *

**Very sappy, I know, but it came to me in the middle of the night after reading a fanfic like this in The Vampire Diaries :D**

**Please review!**


	3. Eleventh Anniversary

**I wrote this in memory of 9/11.**

**Thinking about all the people lost, all the loved ones who are still healing, really made it hard to write this.**

**But then again, if you don't write something difficult and moving, who will?**

**Italics - song lyrics**

**Bold Italics - memories/flashbacks**

* * *

A nervous Annabeth waited in the wings of the stage, her eyes wide with fright.

Automatically, she started twisting her wedding band, the one she hadn't taken off once in the eleven years since he died.

Since her husband died.

Taking a deep breath, she went out onto the stage when they called her name. Behind her, projected onto a blank screen, was the smiling face of a man in uniform.

His skin was tanned, his teeth white. Unruly black hair escaped from his cap, and bright green eyes stared out at them.

Like always, it was almost like a punch in the gut to see him.

The dog tags were resting comfortably under her shirt, the words engraved there engraved onto her heart.

_Jackson, Perseus L_

_889092871_

_Type A Positive_

_Christian_

And then on the other,

_Married_

_Chase, Annabeth R_

_Mother_

_Jackson, Sally K_

The microphone was sitting on the stage, and thousand's eyes were on her.

Taking a deep breath, she said into the microphone.

"On September 11, 2001, my husband was flying on a plane home. He was on one of the planes that crashed into the Twin Towers."

Taking a deep breath, Annabeth tried to keep her tears in check.

"His name was Perseus Jackson, but he preferred being called Percy. He was brave, loved the ocean, and was loyal to a fault. He had already served three years in the army, and was going on his fourth when he died."

Looking over her shoulder to her best friend, Thalia, who was standing backstage near the sound booth, gave her a thumbs up and an encouraging smile.

"This is a song I had prepared in his memory."

_It was two weeks after the day she turned eighteen_

_All dressed in white_

_Going to the church that night_

**_Nineteen year old Percy stepped into his Military Suit, making sure the flower was pinned on his lapel. _**

**_"Come on dude, you're going to go marry the girl of your dreams. Put your ass in gear." _**

**_Percy laughed at his best friend, Grover, who was standing in the doorway, looked dapper in his suit even thought he had his braces attached to his wrists. _**

**_Thalia, the maid of honor, bustled into the room, her long blue dress making her pale skin look even more creamy. _**

**_"Come on! She's almost ready to go to the church, you need to leave NOW!"_**

**_Percy laughed at his cousin, the one who introduced him to her three years ago, when he was seventeen. _**

**_"Calm down Tals, you did great. Now, I'm going to go marry my best friend, the girl I love, the person of my dreams-"_**

**_Thalia cut him off, waving a hand in the air. _**

**_"Just go!" _**

_She had his box of letters in the passenger seat_

_Sixpence in her shoe_

_Something borrowed_

_Something blue_

_**Their marriage was a beautiful ceremony. Looking back at the photos, she saw them smiling at each other. How they seemed to be wrapped up in only themselves, no one else. **_

**_Every tender kiss, the warmth of his hand through her dress, the look of awe on his face when he saw he coming down the aisle and knew that she was his. _**

**_The blush on their faces when he threw the blue garter into the crowd, the glimmer of the old hair pins her grandmother had given her and the bright shinning of the pearls she had borrowed from her new mother-in-law. _**

**_The honeymoon of laughter, memories, and love. _**

**_Then the horrible day when he had to go back. _**

**_"I love you." _**

**_"I love you too, so much…so much." _**

**_The dog tags he slipped over her head, and the kiss he pressed to her lips and then her ring finger, where the engagement ring and wedding ring sat. _**

_And when the church doors_

_Opened up wide_

_She put her veil down_

_Trying to hide the tears_

_Oh she just couldn't believe it_

**_They had bought a house on the outskirts of New York City, and she was just brewing a cup of coffee when the phone rang. _**

**_Peering at the clock, she wondered who it could be. She wasn't due to pick Percy up until tomorrow, even though he was flying in today. He had to meet with some others. _**

**_Putting her mug down, she picked up the phone. _**

**_"Hello?"_**

**_"Annabeth?"_**

**_"Percy?" _**

_She heard the trumpets_

_From the military band_

_And the flowers_

_Fell out of her hands_

**_"Annabeth, sweetie, I don't have much time…the plane I'm on has been taken by terrorists, they're going to try to attack New York City. I already called my mom…sweetie, I'm so sorry-"_**

**_Her heart was in her throat; she couldn't believe what was happening. _**

**_"We're going to fight back. We're not going down without a fight." _**

**_"I love you."_**

**_"I love you too…so much…so much." _**

**_He called her again when they were forced down to sit. He, his mother and her were sitting by the phone, all with each other in the last moments. _**

**_His whispered, "I love you both," were the last words he said right at the plane hit the tower._**

_Baby, why'd you leave me  
_

_Why'd you have to go_

_I was counting on forever_

_Now I'll never know_

_I can't even breathe_

**_The awful silence of the disconnected phone call rang loud in her ears. _**

**_The next few days passed by in a whirl of tears, sorrow, and disbelief. _**

**_She kept expecting him to walk in the door, a smile on his face and a daisy in his hand, like he always did when he came home on leave. _**

**_When she went into their room to sleep, she smelt his shirt, the sea breeze and a little bit of sunshine, and she collapsed. _**

**_The sobs came and wracked her body. _**

**_She couldn't live without him. _**

**_She couldn't _breathe_ without him._**

_It's like I'm looking from a distance  
_

_Standing in the background_

_Everybody's saying_

_He's not coming home now_

_This can't be happening to me_

_This is just a dream_

**_The funeral was to be taken place three weeks after the attack. It was because not everyone could come in or out of New York. _**

**_There was no body to bury, but there were pictures, an empty casket, and an American flag with an honor guard, their heads tilted down and guns propped on their shoulders. _**

**_It was like an out of body experience for her. She saw everything like it was happening to someone else. _**

**_It was someone else, pale and drawn with huge circles under red eyes, standing next to the coffin. _**

**_It was someone else's deep, soul crushing heartbreak. _**

**_It was someone else losing a loved one, not her. _**

**_Because this was a dream. She was going to wake up from this nightmare and he would be there._**

_The preacher man said _

_Let us bow our heads and pray_

_Lord please lift his soul_

_And heal this hurt_

_Then the congregation all stood up and sang_

_The saddest song_

_That she ever heard_

**_The words to "Onward Christian Soldiers" flowed throughout the church. Annabeth didn't even make it three lines before the tears flowed again. _**

**_The pain cut a hole through her chest. _**

**_Looking up at the cross hanging in front of the church, she prayed to God. _**

**_"Please, please, please don't take him away from me. I can't live without him…take me instead, please, just let him come home…please…"_**

**_This hurt will never fade. _**

_Then they handed her_

_A folded up flag_

_And she held on_

_To all she had left of him_

_Oh, and what could have been_

_**The casket was lowered into the ground, and the folded up flag was handed to her, as the widow. **_

_**When her hands closed around it, she held it close to her heart. **_

_**It was all she had left of him. **_

_**There was going to be no more of them...**_

_And then the guns rang_

_One last shot_

_And it felt like_

_A bullet in her heart_

_**The honor guard, including Grover, his best friend, lifted their guns in unison. **_

_**The shot fired through the stifling sorrow, and then everyone bowed their heads. **_

_**They might have well have been shooting her in the chest. **_

_**Stepping up to the hole with a wad of dirt in her hands and a flower, she whispered, **_

_Baby, why'd you leave me_

_Why'd you have to go_

_I was counting on forever_

_Now I'll never know_

_I can't even breathe_

_It's like I'm looking from a distance _

_Standing in the background_

_Everybody's saying_

_He's not coming home now_

_This can't be happening to me_

_This is just a dream_

**_The next couple of weeks after the funeral bought some semblance of closure. _**

**_It was hard, walking into her apartment and seeing his stuff, smelling his scent everywhere, and hearing his last words echoing in her mind. _**

**_The grief was a long ocean to cross, but she was swimming as hard as she could. _**

_Oh_

_Baby, why'd you leave me_

_Why'd you have to go_

_I was counting on forever_

_Now I'll never know_

_Oh, I'll never know _

**_The news that Osama bin Laden had been killed made her so joyous like nothing ever had. _**

**_The man who had been responsible for Percy's death was gone. Off this planet, where he could never hurt someone again. _**

**_Part of her wanted to fall down weeping with joy, the other wanted to curl up in a ball and wish that this had happened sooner. _**

**_Another small part of her wished that she had been the one to pull the trigger to end his miserable life. _**

_It's like I'm looking from a distance _

_Standing in the background_

_Everybody's saying_

_He's not coming home now_

_This can't be happening to me_

_This is just a dream_

**_Slowly she reached out. _**

**_She joined a group of woman who had lost their husbands, and they all healed together. _**

**_She cried every holiday, anniversary, and birthday he missed. She cried when she thought of him and how he would never be there to hold her, start a family. _**

**_There would never be small children with her hair and his eyes running around their apartment, no one to hold and cuddle with when she went to sleep. _**

**_But she didn't know what else to do but move on._**

_Oh, _

_This is just a dream_

_Just_

_A dream_

_Yeah_

_Yeah  
_

When she was done, there was silence, before clapping and a standing ovation thundered through the room.

Smiling shakily, not even noticing the tears running down her face, she whispered up to the sky,

"I love you. So much…so much."

* * *

**Several notes: **

**One: I don't know what is really on the dogtags for a soldier. I kind of made it up. **

**Two: Onward Christian Soldiers is a real hymn. It was sung at my grandfather's funeral; he's a veteran of three wars, so I thought it was fitting to put that in here.**

**Three: The song is called "Just a Dream" by Carrie Underwood, and it is so sad and beautiful. I suggest looking it up.**

**Thank you all, and please review! **

**Our thoughts and prayers with the families and friends who lost loved ones. **

**I miss you all, those I lost in the 9/11 tradgedy. **

**We will never forget.**


	4. RIP Newtown

Hey Guys.

I don't know if most of you have heard, but there was a shooting in Newtown, CT, in an Elementary school.

27 people were killed, 20 of them being young children no older than eight. This hit close to home for me because of some cousins I'm close to being that age.

Also, I am near that school...and we were put on lockdown. Some of my friend's siblings were in that school during the shooting and they didn't know if they were OK or not (they are not, but at the time it was scary).

Right now, I'm going to be retreating a little from FanFiction, as it is hard to write through grief. Usually this is what I turn to, but every time I open up a draft to write I think about those innocent lives that were lost.

I wanted to write something poignant and moving, a oneshot or something, to show respect to those who were killed...but how can you when you feel shattered inside?

There are no words for it.

I am not writing this to make a statement on guns, or on school security, so please don't review saying it. This is a time to come together, not to debate. There will be time for that later, just grieve now.

No matter what your religion is, please keep the family and friends of these people in your thoughts and prayers.

Remember the kids who were too young to die, the teachers, especially Victoria Soto, who hid their kids and lied to protect them.

Heaven gained 27 beautiful, perfect angels who will be missed dearly.

Rest In Peace:

Charlotte Bacon (6)

Daniel Barden (7)

Rachel Davino (29)

Olivia Engel (6)

Josephine Gay (7)

Ana M. Marquez-Greene (6)

Dylan Hockley (6)

Dawn Hocksprung (47)

Madeleine F. Hsu (6)

Catherine V. Hubbard (6)

Chase Kowalski (7)

Jesse Lewis (6)

James Mattioli (6)

Grace McDonnell (7)

Anne Marie Murphy (52)

Emilie Parker (6)

Jack Pinto (6)

Noah Pozner (6)

Caroline Previdi (6)

Jessica Rekos (6)

Avielle Richman (6)

Lauren Russeau (30)

Mary Sherlach (56)

Victoria Soto (27)

Benjamin Wheeler (6)

Allison N. Wyatt (6)


	5. Half-Blood Facebook

**Author**: ILove2Write13

**Fandom**: Percy Jackson and the Olympians, six years in the future, not HoO

**Story Title**: Half-Blood Facebook

**Rating**: PG

**Word Count**: 1,200 + words

**Notes**: I don't think I made the bold correct, but whatever, this was meant for LOLs and nostalgia.

**Summary**: Six years into the future, we get a look at how our favorite half-bloods are faring, thanks to the magic of Facebook.

* * *

**Percy Jackson **created a **Facebook**

**Nico di Angelo: **It's about damn time dude

**Percy Jackson**: Forgive my technologically challenged mind

* * *

**Percy Jackson** is **married** to **Annabeth Chase-Jackson**.

**Annabeth Chase-Jackson, Thalia Grace, Nico di Angelo, **and **35 Others** **like **this.

**Clarisse la Rue**: get some girl

**Nico di Angelo likes** this.

* * *

**Conner Stoll **added **67** **pictures** to the album **Vegas Baby Vegas!**

**Percy Jackson: **WHY FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THE GODS WOULD YOU POST THESE!?

**Grover Underwood**: Oh gods, please tell me that's not me with that-

**Juniper Underwood: **my husband, you have a lot of explaining to do

**Annabeth Chase-Jackson**: is that a lampshade on your head?

**Travis Stoll: **dude, we could have used these for blackmail…

**Nico di Angelo**: was it really necessary for you to post the picture of me being forced into a lap dance?

**Conner Stoll: **she was cute dude, I don't know what your prob was

**Nico di Angelo**: "she" was a "he"

**Conner Stoll**: …

**Conner Stoll**: where is brain bleach when you need it?!

* * *

**Annabeth Chase-Jackson**: Urgh, Perce, your cooking has been making me sick for three days in a row.

**Thalia Grace** and **3 Others like** this.

**Percy Jackson**: Please, you loved those blue hamburgers last month.

**Thalia Grace**: *Blue* hamburgers? It's a wonder she's still alive

**Percy Jackson**: I resent that

* * *

**Annabeth Chase-Jackson** posted a photo with **Percy Jackson**

**Annabeth Chase-Jackson**: Telling him he's going to be a Daddy? Reaction = priceless

**Thalia Grace, Katie Gardener, Travis Stoll, **and **187 Others like** this

**Thalia Grace**: Did he really pass out?

**Annabeth Chase-Jackson: **To a dead faint right on our kitchen floor.

**Travis Stoll**: I am never letting him live this down

**Nico di Angelo**: Dibs on being the godfather

* * *

**Percy Jackson: **Welcome to the world Silena May Jackson! 7 Pounds, 4 Ounces, 18 inches long!

**Nico di Angelo, Grover Underwood, Chiron, Mr. D, **and **389** **Others like **this

**Percy Jackson: **Mr. D, when did you get an account? And when did you become my friend? O.o

**Mr. D**: Pierre, your questions are insulting to a god with numerous powers at his disposal. Nevertheless, enjoy your daughter. She's going to be a handful, just like you.

**Percy Jackson**: I don't know if I should be insulted or complimented…

* * *

**Annabeth Chase-Jackson**: Silena, how do you feel about being a big sister?

**Percy Jackson, Grover Underwood, **and **Luke Castellan like** this.

**Annabeth Chase-Jackson: **Luke?! WTF?!

**Luke Castellan**: They just installed WiFi here, but I can only friend people I knew well in my real life. But congrats on everything :)

**Percy Jackson: **You know, how come every time we try to announce something, someone unexpected comments?

**Luke Castellan**: :D

* * *

**Thalia Grace** posted on **Luke Castellan**'s wall

**Thalia Grace**: I never got to say goodbye to you

**Luke Castellan**: I'm still here. There's no need to say goodbye.

* * *

**Percy Jackson** posted on **Clarisse la Rue**'s wall

**Percy Jackson**: Congrats on the engagement to **Chris **:)

**Clarisse la Rue: **thnks

**Percy Jackson: **I fully expect to see photos of my first day of camp there

**Clarisse la Rue**: -.-

**Chris Rodriguez likes** this

* * *

**Percy Jackson**: Welcome to the world Luke Ethan Jackson! 9 Pounds, 10 Ounces, 21 1/2 Inches long!

**Luke Castellan, Thalia Grace, Annabeth Chase-Jackson, **and **380 Others like** this

**Luke Castellan**: Dude, I'm touched…like really, I can't even say

**Annabeth Chase-Jackson**: *hugs* I know Luke. But lemme tell you, he's going to be a fighter like you. He liked kicking the crap out of my ribs and bladder.

**Luke Castellan: **TMI girl, lol. It's weird, in my mind, you're always going to be that little girl **Thalia Grace** and I found in an alley way…who almost brained me with a hammer

**Annabeth Chase-Jackson**: I love you too :)

* * *

**Thalia Grace** has changed her job from **Hunter of Artemis** to **Camp Half-Blood Counselor**

**Annabeth Chase-Jackson**: WHAT!?

**Thalia Grace**: *shrugs* I gave up the hunt.

**Annabeth Chase-Jackson**: WHY!? And WHY am I just finding out about it NOW!?

**Thalia Grace: **I'm not having this conversation in public, private message me

* * *

**Thalia Grace **and **Annabeth Chase-Jackson **have joined this chat

**Thalia Grace**: I left because of a guy…

**Annabeth Chase-Jackson**: Oh gods…

**Thalia Grace: **yeah…i know.

**Annabeth Chase-Jackson: **Does he work at camp?

**Thalia Grace: **sorta…

**Annabeth Chase-Jackson**: When am I gonna meet him?

**Thalia Grace: **well, he has a busy schedule…

**Annabeth Chase-Jackson:** what's his job?

**Thalia Grace**: raising and setting the sun?

**Annabeth Chase-Jackson: **what do you me-THALIA!

**Thalia Grace**: Annabeth…

**Annabeth Chase-Jackson**: YOU LEFT THE HUNT FOR **APOLLO**?!

**Thalia Grace: **Annabeth-

**Annabeth Chase-Jackson**: MR. I'LL-SLEEP-WITH-ANYTHING-THAT-HAS-A-PULSE SUN GOD!?

**Thalia Grace**: Annabeth-

**Annabeth Chase-Jackson: **Oh god, Thalia, please tell me that this is just a sick joke…

**Thalia Grace: **Are you done?

**Annabeth Chase-Jackson**: Not yet. WHY THE HELL DID YOU FALL FOR HIM AND HOW AND WHY THE HELL WAS I NOT INFORMED OF THIS EARLIER!? I feel so betrayed :(

**Thalia Grace**: .

**Annabeth Chase-Jackson**: Now I'm done.

**Thalia Grace**: I know it's weird to think about, but there are no promises right now, but Silena and Little Luke are growing up so fast, and I wanna grow up with them, maybe have kids of my own…I don't know, the Hunter's Blessing wasn't something I thought about having long term. And I know Apollo isn't the kind to stick around for a long time, but who knows…he might surprise us.

**Annabeth Chase-Jackson**: He better stick around long enough to knock you up, I wanna be an auntie soon.

**Thalia Grace: ** .

* * *

**Thalia Grace** is in a **Relationship** with **Apollo **

**Artemis, Zeus, Annabeth Chase-Jackson, **and **46 Others like** this.

**Artemis: **you hurt her, and your car isn't going anywhere for a long time, and you'll have to pull the sun with your own shoulders

**Apollo**: no problem with these muscles of steel! OWW! Jeez, Thalia, no hitting!

**Thalia Grace**: *sigh*

* * *

**Thalia Grace** posted on **Annabeth Chase-Jackson**'s wall

**Thalia Grace: **You jinxed me :(

**Annabeth Chase-Jackson:** I KNEW IT! *happy dance*

* * *

**Apollo**: I have the most AMAZING girlfriend and the most HANDSOME son in the WORLD! Jason Michael Grace, try not to break the earth. Especially when driving my chariot.

**Annabeth Chase-Jackson**, **Percy Jackson, **and **167** **Others like** this.

**Thalia Grace**: He's not driving until he can walk. And even then, probably not.

**Apollo: **party pooper :(

* * *

**Chiron**: I cannot tell you how proud I am that you all made your lives worth living after everything you survive. I am so proud of you.

**Annabeth Chase-Jackson, Percy Jackson, Luke Castellan, Clarisse la Rue, **and **489** **Others like **this.

**Percy Jackson**: Thanks Chiron :)

**Annabeth Chase-Jackson**: You're the best!

**Mr. D: **Just have to butter them up, don't you?

**Travis Stoll**: Does this mean we're out of trouble for our last prank?

**Chiron**: Which one?!

**Connor Stoll**: Don't answer that!

**Clarisse la Rue**: *sigh* some things never change

-FIN-

* * *

**Review and let me know what you think? Which was your favorite part?**

**Thanks!**


	6. Iridescent

**Author: **ILove2Write13

**Fandom**: Percy Jackson and the Olympians, but AH

**Story Title**: Iridescent

**Rating**: PG-13

**Warnings:** Mentions/intents of suicide, abuse, depression, death, self-harm, and cursing

**Word Count**:

**Notes: **I love Linkin Park, and I love this song. I wanted to do something because March 1st is National Self-Harm awareness day, and all this week has been eating disorder/suicide awareness week.

To anyone who may be feeling depressed or suicidal, don't give up. You are not alone. Contact me in anyway way you wish, PM me here or send me anonymous message on Tumblr, but you are not alone. I am here for you, I **promise**.

**Bold** are song lyrics and _Italics_ are memories

**Summary**: She was posed ready to jump. He wasn't going to let her.

**Disclaimer**: Do I look like Rick? No. Don't own anything. The song is from the fabulously talented Linkin Park and the writers of the song. OWN NOTHING, although I wish I did.

* * *

**When you were standing in the wake of devastation**

**When you were waiting on the edge of the unknown**

**With the cataclysm raining down**

**Your insides crying, "Save me now"**

**You were there, impossibly alone**

The storm was brewing quickly; you would have to be a fool not to notice it.

She wasn't that afraid. From the time she was little, she had loved storms. Loved the feel of the static electricity in the air, and the loud boom of thunder reverberating in her chest. She loved dancing in the rain, letting it soak her hair and clothes.

She _was_ afraid of heights. Ever since that horrible incident as a child, when her pilot father (who wanted a son, who wanted her to learn how to fly, who wanted her to be everything she wasn't) forced her to take over the plane when she wasn't ready and it went into a dive, her helpless to control it.

He had pulled it up, of course, he didn't want to die, but not without berating her and giving her a bruise and a scar to remember the day for.

She traced the scar now - a small one through her eyebrow - as she stood at the edge of the cliff.

She used to come here when she was younger, hidden by brush and trees to look out at the ocean and cry. She begged to be saved, but no one heard her.

The God she used to believe in didn't answer her.

When she was little, she used to think a good portion of the sea was made up from the salty tears she had cried over the edge, used to think that if all else failed, she would live in that little clearing by the sea.

She was a child then…she knew better now.

For some reason, she wasn't afraid. Even with the churning waves all those feet beneath her, even with the crumbling rock, she did not fear anything.

Nothing could be worse than the hell she had lived in for twenty years.

She closed her eyes, letting the rain caress her face in gentle touches, matting her dark hair to her back.

The same hair that her father had ripped out of her head numerous times, because it reminded him of her mother.

_"Stupid bitch! Can't you do anything right!?" _

_She had been only seven, but she had been reduced to nothing more than a servant._

_They had all been out of it ever since Momma had miscarried, lost the little brother she was supposed to have, since Momma left to bring her little brother somewhere safe and never returned._

_She stared in fear at the man who she had trusted for years._

_He was standing over her, his chest rising and falling quickly with labored breath._

_The smack and the pain came soon after, the remains of the meal she had tried to cook burning her skin. _

The thunder roared again in her ears, the water still pounding her. The waves were so high now that the spray from them was hitting her arms.

She could end it…she could stop all the pain and misery and self-loathing that had built up inside of her.

With one step into the empty air, she would be gone, down to the sea which had been her only comfort for so many years.

**Do you feel cold and lost in desperation?**

**You build up hope, but failures all you've known.**

**Remember all the sadness and frustration**

**And let it go**

**Let it go**

The more and more she thought about it, the more appealing it sounded.

She used to have so much hope, used to think that with one break she would be free.

That was before she had been left alone, before she had failed at keeping herself together, her own family together.

She ran her fingers over the scars on her wrists. She used to hide them with bracelets,but she had gotten to the point where she didn't really care anymore who saw her so messed up.

The scars continued on her thighs, carving the words that had been thrown at her so many times that she started to believe them.

Blankly, she wondered if anyone was going to miss her. She had one friend, Annabeth, who knew about what had been going on in her home. She hadn't liked seeing her hurt, but she couldn't do anything to really help.

Annabeth would be taken care of. She had a husband now named Percy, and a little boy named Ethan.

Percy knew how to take care of Annabeth. He knew how hard she worked herself, and how hard Annabeth tried to be perfect for the father who never loved her.

Maybe that's why she and her bonded so well.

All Percy had to do was really let Ethan toddle over to his Momma and Annabeth would be putty.

That was the one regret she had though…never finding love, never having a child.

But whenever she put her heart out there, it was crushed.

Just like with Luke.

_She had met him at their high school. He was the Class Clown, a prankster, who had always flirted with her. _

_She thought that she was special, different. She had let him kiss her, touch her, whatever he wanted, just so she could hold onto the feeling of being _wanted, _not the feeling of being hurt. _

_But when she saw him with another girl, buried in her and whispering in her ear like he did with her, she knew she was nothing more than a notch on his belt. _

_She started shattering that day. _

She had only been fifteen…stupidity came with the territory.

But then it went downhill, because every boy thought she was easy. The gropes, the comments, even the attempted rape from a boy on the football team. No one had believed her.

"Whore" joined those words on her legs.

**And in a burst of light that blinded every angel, **

**As if the sky had blown the heavens into stars, **

**You felt the gravity of tempered grace, **

**Falling into empty space, **

**With no one there to catch you in their arms**

Dimly, she remembered sitting in the library, when a group of horrible cheerleaders "accidentally" pushed a bookshelf onto her.

Three stitched to close the gash on her forehead, one surgery to mend the internal bleeding, a broken arm, and a permanent scar on her mind.

Did they all want her dead? Did they all hate her that much?

What did she do?

For those three days in the hospital, no one came to visit her. No one cared. She hadn't met Annabeth then.

The nurses saw the scars on her arms, saw the fractures she had sustained as a child in her medical file, but had given her the blank smile and walked away.

When she went home that day, she had broken even more.

_After being discharged from the hospital, she had taken the bus to about a mile away from her house, walking the rest of the way there. _

_When she opened the door, the beer bottles reflected the light. _

_Her father was sprawled out on the couch, and when he turned his head, he sneered. _

_"Too bad you didn't die. Would have been a favor to everyone." _

_She didn't respond, she never died when he said those things to her. _

_But she started to believe that he was right. _

**Do you feel cold and lost in desperation?**

**You build up hope, but failures all you've known.**

**Remember all the sadness and frustration**

**And let it go**

**Let it go**

She remembered the nights crying to herself as she ran the blade deep into her skin, the pain on the outside so much easier to deal with than the pain on the inside.

She remembered the days being so sore from her father's beatings and sometimes starvations that her knees would quake.

She remembered the days in school being pushed down stairs, being stolen from, being taken advantage of.

She remembered the hope that someone would notice, that they would do something to help her.

She remembered the hopeless feeling when she realized no one would.

She remembered trying to get help herself, and being called liar, an attention-whore.

She remembered every single fucking piece of herself being ripped away, leading her empty and done.

She remembered the absolute _failure_ she was, made of scars, broken bones and bruises, some of them self inflicted.

And she wanted to forget it.

She was going to end it all…she was going to be free.

For the first time in 14 years, she smiled up at the sky.

**Do you feel cold and lost in desperation?**

**You build up hope, but failures all you've known.**

**Remember all the sadness and frustration**

**And let it go**

**Let it go**

She had one foot up, balanced on the sole of her combat boots, arms splayed out to the side.

Excitement and hope filled her. She was going to leave this nightmare behind.

"Please don't!"

**Let it go**

**Let it go**

**Let it go**

**Let it go**

She spun around, almost losing her balance and falling anyway.

He was standing there like a real life Adonis, blond hair almost brown from the rain.

His eyes speared her where she stood; never in her life had she ever seen a green that bright.

His hands came down and pulled her away from the edge, loose enough to not hurt her, but firm enough to let her know she wasn't going anywhere anytime soon.

"Please don't…it might seem like the best way, but it isn't…your family, your friends-"

She broke in with a blank voice, "My father beats me, my mother is dead, my brother died during childbirth, and my only friend will be fine without me."

Clearly not expecting that, he furrowed his eyebrows down at her.

"I would miss you."

She scoffed, too numb to keep up a facade of happy girl.

"Yeah right. You don't even know me."

He let go of her for a moment, before pushing up the sleeve of his sweatshirt, baring the slightly tanned underside.

"We are only as strong as a whole."

Faintly, like it had been a long time since, she could make out the pale scars on his wrists and dotting his arm, one long one going from the crease of his elbow to the wrist.

"I tried to do the same thing you did…trust me, it gets better."

She broke then, tears pouring down her face.

This total stranger understood her better than anyone else she had known her whole life.

"I don't know if I want to be better, I don't know if I can even be better-"

He wrapped his arms around her, her slight form not even coming up to his chin.

"I know. But I'll help. I wouldn't wish what happened to me on anyone. I promise, you're not alone."

After what could have been hours, or days, even years, she had cried herself out onto the already wet sweatshirt, the smell of sunshine and lemons on him soothing her.

He pushed her black hair behind her ear, before giving her a soft smile.

"I'm Apollo."

Smiling a little weakly, she held out her hand and said, "Thalia."

He shook it, before wrapping his arm around her shoulders again.

"Come on Tally, let's get you out of the rain."

She didn't comment on the nickname, only letting him pull her along the path to a car he had parked somewhere.

She closed her eyes, letting him lead her.

Every drop of the rain felt better now, every feeling of cold and desperation fading away, like she had cried them into the ocean.

A small smile broke out across her lips again.

Maybe God had listened to her after all.

**Do you feel cold and lost in desperation?**

**You build up hope, but failures all you've known.**

**Remember all the sadness and frustration**

**And let it go**

**Let it go**


	7. The Hanging Tree, Part One

**Author: **ILove2Write13

**Fandom: **Percy Jackson and the Olympians and Hunger Games Crossover

**Story Title: **The Hanging Tree

**Rating: **High T

**Warning: **Death, killing, cursing, and some sexuality

**Word Count: **3,500+ (This thing is a monster!)

**Notes: **The thought of these two being thrown into the Hunger Games as just normal humans and not demigods was too beautiful to pass up. It's actually going to two one shots, one with the two of them from District 4 and then one of them being from District 12. This one is Part One, taking place in District 4

**Disclaimer: **I do not own anything that you recognize. It belongs to Rick Riordan and Suzanne Collins!

**Summary: **[Part One, District Four] The horror dawned in their eyes when they realized whom exactly they would be fighting against.

* * *

The morning dawned bright and clear, reflecting off the water and making it look like diamonds.

It was the morning of Reaping Day, and normally everyone in the District tried to sleep in if they could.

Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase were not most people.

Thrown together out of necessity and mutual interest not to starve, the two of them shared a boat they had saved for to bring in hauls.

Annabeth Chase was a tall, athletically muscular 16 year old girl. She single-handedly raised and supported herself and her twin brothers, Bobby and Matthew, when their parents died in a boating accident.

Percy's father, a seasoned captain, was killed on the same wreckage, leaving him, his mother, and disabled brother, Tyson, behind. He and Annabeth, already friends, had teamed together to support their families.

Percy Jackson was now eighteen, in his last year of the Reaping. The one thing he was terrified about though, was his little brother going into the Reaping and him not being able to volunteer next year.

Tyson was twelve this year, and he wouldn't survive in the arena. He had been born prematurely, and had never developed right after that. He behaved like a chid half his age, and couldn't do intense physical activity, or his lungs would fill up with liquid.

Annabeth was lucky; her twin brothers were only three years old. They had been one when their parents had died. She didn't have to worry about them yet, and if worst came to worst, she would send them to the academy; at least then they would have a fighting chance in the arena if they were chosen.

Right now, Annabeth was tied to the side of the boat, her feet planted against the side as she supported herself to reach out to the lobster trap they had set.

Percy finished hauling in the lines, pleased with the catch they had managed to get. About two dozen fish, a small net of squid, and the lobster trap revealed six regulation sized and one that was too small for them to sell. That would be their dinner for that night.

Standing next to each other, Annabeth and Percy were as different as night and day. Percy had thick black hair that fell in waves around his face, normally tied back with a bandana. His green eyes were the color of the shallow sea, skin as dark as the wood beneath his feet.

Annabeth had bright blond hair, curly and long. She wore it in a braid down her back to keep it out of her face, but some tendrils did escape to frame her bright gray eyes.

The brink of starvation and hard labor made both of them lean, but not so lean that they were bony.

Realizing that they needed to get going, Percy instantaneously reached out a hand to pull Annabeth onto the dock, not letting go of her hand until he was sure that she was solidly on deck.

Their boat, _The Andromeda, _was medium sized, with a small sleeping and storage area beneath the deck and a small cabin where they stowed their equipment and a harpoon gun. You never knew when a shark might decide to attack them.

Moving like they always had, in perfect unison they sorted out the fish, putting two of the smaller bass and the lobster into a pot for them to eat that night, then putting the others in crates to bring to the merchants. Annabeth had been diving and managed to capture a couple of crabs and picked some seaweed, so there would be some variety to their catch.

"How many times is your name in the bowls?"

This was the first words that she had spoken that day to him.

Percy winced, not really wanting to tell her how many times he had signed up for the tesserae.

"Thirty times."

Annabeth winced, before turning to him and wrapped her arms around his waist in a quick hug.

His heart caught in his throat at the thought of possibly going into the arena, or worse…his brother.

"What about you?"

Annabeth winced, before saying "Twenty."

His arms tightened around her waist.

"We're going to be fine. And so is Tyson."

She knew him inside and out, it shouldn't have surprised him that she knew his worries about his little brother.

"Yeah. We are."

* * *

Standing under the blazing sun waiting for Aquarius to pick the damn name was horrible.

"Annabeth Chase!"

For a moment, everything went still.

Then panic and horror bloomed in her chest, and she could do nothing but stare.

Soon, Peacekeepers found her and poked her forward, and she was lead up to the stage to the silence of the District.

"No! No, Anna!"

She didn't turn around; she knew that voice anywhere.

Bobby and Mathew were standing with Percy's mother, and they knew that something horrible was coming to their sister.

Her eyes then darted to meet Percy's, which were hard with shock, anguish and anger.

There was no applause; they knew who they were sending to their death, a girl who was the only thing her brother's had left.

Aquarius turned to the male bowl and pulled out a name and read it with his annoyingly perky voice.

"Tyson Jackson!"

Absolute silence for one moment, before he started walking slowly to the stage.

Tyson was huge for a twelve year old, which meant that his mental behavior put him even more at odds.

Annabeth had only a split second to realize who it was before Percy spoke up, desperation and fear making his voice split in several words.

"I volunteer! I volunteer! Tyson, _stop, _I volunteer damnit!"

Tyson turned, searching through the crowd for his best friend and brother, letting Percy wrap arms around him and push him away, before climbing up the steps.

Aquarius was in fits, so excited for some action in this reaping.

The horror dawned in their eyes when they realized whom exactly they would be fighting against.

* * *

They held hands in the opening ceremonies.

It was like when they would be hauling fish in together, holding onto each other to make sure they didn't go tumbling into the ocean.

They were dressed pretty well for their District, being graced with naturally good looks.

Percy was dressed like the depictions of Poseidon, a circlet on his head and a trident in his hand. He held it with ease, born of the long practice he had with one when they went fishing for the bigger fish, like marlins or swordfish. A gold breastplate with carvings of waves and swirls showed off the white of the tunic he was wearing, and the gladiator sandals.

She was dressed like Poseidon's wife, Amphitrite. Her long, curly hair was let down in waves around her face, a wreath of ivy and sea-shells holding some of it back. Her floor-length chiton was embroidered with fish and waves, making her look leaner and more beautiful than she really was.

When everyone screamed their names, they just held onto each other tighter.

* * *

Training was brutal.

Everywhere she turned, she was glared at for her beauty, the splash she made at the opening ceremonies, and probably the huge boy who was always behind her, glaring at anyone who made so much as a threatening blink at her.

They had fought the previous night, when Annabeth had tried to give him her necklace, a leather chord with three beads and two rings on it. It was her token from home, and the three beads represented her and her twin brothers, and the two rings her parent's wedding rings. Even when times had gotten tough, she never thought of pawning them.

He had screamed at her, shook her shoulders, made her promise that she would get out of the Arena and go back home to support their families.

She had screamed right back, telling him he couldn't seriously be making her make the decision to leave her _best friend_ behind and go back home like nothing had ever happened.

Their argument was still in the air, making it tense, but not tense enough that he would leave her to her own devices.

Knots, tridents, spears, and fishing were all natural to them. Annabeth tried her hand at archery and found out she was pretty good at it; all the times throwing spears into larger fish must have helped her aim. She was even handy with a dagger she had picked up, but she sucked at knife throwing.

Percy excelled at hand-to-hand combat, the play wrestling he did with his brother coming out in seriousness. When he picked up a sword, he was surprised to see he had a natural talent for that as well.

Together, they realized one of them would have a good chance of coming out of it alive.

Which one was going to go home was still a decision to be made.

* * *

"Now, many of us are wondering why you would volunteer for your brother?"

Percy stiffened, clearly not too happy with the direction Caesar Flickerman's questions were going.

"My brother is only twelve…he was born prematurely, and was sickly. He wouldn't have lasted in the arena, and I would be damned if I let him go. I'm his brother, and I protect him. I just wish that my friend wouldn't have been bought here either."

Caesar jumped on the subject change, nodding his head to Annabeth.

"Percy, can you tell me what is the relationship between you and the lovely Annabeth over there?"

Percy smiled and waved with two fingers to Annabeth. She rolled her eyes but waved back.

"Annabeth and I grew up together. When both of her parents and my father were killed in a capsizing accident, we earned enough money doing odd jobs around the District to buy our own boat. The two of us support our families. She is my best friend in every sense of the world."

Some women in the crowd sighed with longing, and some of the men even did as well.

"Just friends, ehh?" Caesar nudged him in the ribs, and Percy faked a pretty convincing smile and chuckle.

"Well, we - and when I say 'we' I mean her - didn't want to make our relationship complicated by adding romance into it."

Then his face turned serious, and he spoke the truth from his heart.

"I always wished though. She's my best friend, and I love her. I never thought I would, but I do."

Their eyes met, and hers were brimming with tears, and her fingers were clenching the arms of the chair she was sitting on.

His heart clenched when he saw how beautiful she looked. The stylists had kept with the Greek theme, making her dress a beautiful gray with swirls of green and blue through it, her hair in a side braid and woven with ribbons.

He had felt his heart break when he had seen her go up those steps to her death, and it was that moment he knew just how in love with her he was.

"I just wish we would have had more time together."

* * *

"Annabeth, that must have been something to hear from young Percy…tell me, how would you describe your relationship with Percy?"

Annabeth sighed, tugging on a strand of her hair by her right ear.

"He and I are best friends. I know him better than I know myself sometimes, and I would do anything for him. I would die for him, even though the stubborn idiot won't let me."

Percy rolled his eyes in his seat, and stuck his tongue out at her. The audience laughed, especially when Annabeth stuck her tongue right back at him.

Caesar chuckled, patting her arm.

"I know that that young man is head over heels for you Annabeth. But what we all want to know, are the feelings mutual?"

Dead silence.

Percy stiffened in his chair, bracing himself for her rejection. The audience held their breath, just waiting on the edge of their seats.

In that moment, Annabeth hated the Capitol more than she thought she was able to.

She should be back in District Four, on their boat. It would have been his last reaping, and when the party was over, they would have slipped away from their family to lay on the deck and stare at the stars.

They would have cuddled together, so happy that everything would have worked out.

He would have confessed how much he loved her under the stars and surrounded by the water they loved so much. She would have relented, she would have taken him into her arms and kissed him the way she had wanted to for so long; she would have taken down the barriers she had erected to protect herself from this harsh world and let him hold her.

Instead, they were confessing everything in front of people who had no right to see it.

But she needed to answer the question.

She turned to look him directly in the face, and whispered two words.

"They are."

* * *

_10. _

_9._

_8._

This is it. Her eyes meet his from across the field, and with that one look, thousands of words are communicated.

_7._

_6._

_5._

Be safe, run away, meet up as soon as we can, find water, climb a tree, do anything you can to stay _alive…_

_4. _

_3. _

_2. _

In that last second before the cannon blasted, they mouthed at exactly the same time, "I love you."

_1. _

Let the games begin.

* * *

It's bloody and messy and horrible and it _hurts_…

Even though she isn't the one who died.

She stares down at the tribute who now has a gaping crater on the side of his head from the rock she used to bash it in.

Her chest is heaving up and down, because she never killed anything in her life that wasn't fish, that wasn't a spider (and not even then, cause Percy was always the one to kill them for her) and he was a _child_ and she _killed _him…

"Annabeth?"

She whirls around, her eyes wild and the rock still clenched in her white-knuckled grip.

Percy's sad eyes met hers, and the rock clattered to the floor.

This isn't how she pictured their reunion in the arena, with her blond hair a mess and her face and hands stained with blood, but she runs to him and lets him wrap his arms around her like he always had, and she lets a few tears fall.

Because she shouldn't be here, and neither should he, and all she wants to do is go home.

* * *

They're in a cave now, him with a bum leg from the damn Careers, and her with a slice to her forehead after risking everything to get the medicine for him.

He wasn't too happy with her, but when she injected him and the cooling sensation filled him and he felt his skin knit back together, he forgave her.

Now, they were curled together, his triton at hand and her dagger strapped to her left arm.

His hand is playing with her curly hair, and her hand is tracing light patterns onto his skin.

Their eyes meet, and without a single sound other than the rain falling outside, they kiss.

This kiss is different than the others they shared.

It's not the sweet and slightly awkward first kiss they shared the minute they were truly alone after the interviews.

It's not desperate and relief-filled as when she came back from blowing up the supplies or when she thought he was dead.

It's not heavy and heated like it was when they were both in a tracker-jacker poisoned delirium.

But it's a soft, loving, smooth kiss of two teenagers who had been in love for so much longer than they had ever thought to admit to each other.

It's closed mouthed, his long fingers weaving between the silky strands of her hair, his abdomen muscles against her stomach, so delicious and so _warm_…

Her hands are fists at his shoulders, holding him to her as closely as she could, her breath coming fast and she's getting light-headed…

They break apart for one moment before they remember that they're on live television and they blush, but never break eye contact.

Outside their little cave, rain continues to fall.

* * *

His face is alight with fury, protectiveness, and murderous rage.

Annabeth had been taken and dragged back to the Cornucopia kicking and screaming, along with Percy.

There, the two male tributes (the final Careers) from Districts One and Two make him watch as they attempt to rape her, and they try to molest the little girl from District Eleven, a small little girl named Rue.

The pain and fury over the two girls propels him to break out of his rope bonds by sheer force of his muscles and kill the two of them.

He's too late though, because Rue has taken a knife to the gut, and Annabeth is just there to hold her and soothe her and promise her that no one will hate her because of what happened.

Sorrow cakes her face, because it's a _little girl_ who was stuck here with _monsters _who forced themselves on her, and she wasn't strong enough to save her…

The two of them hold the little girl while she dies.

oOoOoOo

In the Capitol, in every bar, office, brothel and street, they stare at the little girl dying in the arms of their favorite tribute, and they just remain silent.

The Capitol City has _never _been totally silent.

And President Kronos breaks a glass when he realizes exactly what the polls are saying.

* * *

It finally comes down to just the two of them.

This was what they were dreading the most above anything.

Annabeth holds him tightly, begging him not to leave her.

"No, Annabeth…"

Annabeth just holds him tighter, making him sigh and wrap his arms around her as well.

"You can't leave me here. You can't leave me here."

Because it's true; is he dies and she goes home, a part of her will still be stuck in this arena, fighting everything that comes out of the woods.

His hands stroked her hair, trying to hold back the tears that were pooling in his eyes.

"I love you."

"I love you."

Annabeth, ever the calculator, was trying furiously to think of way for the two of them to get out of this situation…she would rather die for him, but he wouldn't let her, because he was going to die for her…

It clicked in her mind.

She fumbled in her bag for the leaves she had found. It was one of those plants she remembered from home; one bit and you would be dead.

Percy's eyes widened, his hand going out immediately to stop her, but when she put a leaf in his hand, he knew.

Together, they wrapped each other in the other's arms and kissed for one last time.

"One."

They gripped the leaves tighter in their hands, eyes locked and not moving.

"Two."

He tugged on one of her curls, watched it spring back into place, and smiled a sad smile.

"Three."

In unison, the leaves were in their mouths.

"STOP! Stop! Ladies and gentleman, may I present to you, your winners of the 74th Annual Hunger Games, Annabeth Chase and Percy Jackson!"


End file.
